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Monday, 7 March 2016

The Death of Democracy in Turkey

The
death of free press in Turkey: Today's Zaman censored

If
you go to Daily Zaman's webpage you can still access the Front
Page.Certain articles are still available but others are not and
there is a message that the Server is down which indicates to me that
the newspaper has been taken over by government administration and is
being censored.

The following appears to be the only indication of the reality. No reference, for example to this in Hurriyet.

This is from another Turkish newspaper. There is no link to an article in English.

Claus
Blok Thomsen from the Danish Politiken daily says he was shocked by
the deportation, expressing his frustration over the mistreatment he
received. (Photo: Sunday's Zaman)

After
seeing how it mistreats journalists, Turkey deserves
its low spot place on thePress
Freedom Index, Claus
Blok Thomsen,
a Danish reporter who was deported on Feb. 10 for posing a threat to
Turkey's national security, has said.

Todays
Zaman,

5
February, 2016

After
arriving from Copenhagen on his way to the southeastern province of
Gaziantep where he was planning to report about Syrian refugees, the
journalist was detained by the police at İstanbul's Sabiha Gökçen
Airport on Feb. 9 and placed in a cell where he was made to stay the
night.

“The
police officers asked me to hand over my phone and computer after
switching them on. Although I declared I am just a journalist coming
here to report, they did not listen to me,” the journalist told the
Aksiyon weekly on Feb 28.

The
reporter, who has been working for the Danish Politiken daily for 19
years, said he was shocked by the deportation, expressing his
frustration over the mistreatment he received.

After
one day of detention in a cell, Thomsen was told by the police he had
to be deported as he posed a threat to national security. “It was
really humiliating to be escorted by the police [at the airport] and
have everyone look at me. I was really offended because I was treated
like a criminal,” Thomsen said.

When
asked if he had written any articles criticizing the Justice and
Development Party (AK Party) or President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,
Thomsen said his last piece on Turkey was five years ago. “[The
article] was about al-Qaeda militants passing to Syria from North
Africa, and I praised Turkey [in the report] for collaborating with
the West to combat terrorism,” the reporter said.

The
experienced journalist added that the police officers who detained
and deported him were acting under orders possibly from a top
official. “The police officers were not very polite while talking
to me. They were looking down on me and not trying to help me at
all.”

Stating
he still has difficulties understanding how he could pose a threat to
Turkey, Thomsen said: “I have been a journalist for 19 years. I
have also written articles criticizing the Danish government, but
have never been treated in such a manner. I have come to believe
Turkey deserves its spot on the Press Freedom Index after having seen
how it mistreats journalists.”

The
world's largest press advocacy group, Reporters Without Borders
(RSF), ranked Turkey 149th out of 180 countries surveyed in its 2015
Press Freedom Index, recommending the release of arrested journalists
while highlighting the country's rapid decline in freedom of
information.

“Turkey's
‘underlying situation' score -- covering such areas as
cyber-censorship, lawsuits, dismissals of critical journalists and
gag orders -- actually worsened, showing that freedom of information
continues to decline. Rocked by major corruption allegations, the
government has done everything possible to rein in the influence of
its new Public Enemy No. 1, the Gülen Movement, to the increasing
detriment of the rule of law,” stated the group.

In
2002, when the ruling the Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
came to power, Turkey was ranked 99th out of 134 countries surveyed.
The following year it fell to 115, but the number of surveyed
countries rose to 158. As Ankara began accession negotiations with
the European Union, its press freedom score improved and it placed in
98th spot out of 161 countries two years in a row -- 2005-6. The
country's ranking remained almost the same until 2009, when the
country dropped to 122nd place out of 170 countries. The next year
Turkey was ranked 138th, and was then fixed at 154th place for 2012,
2013 and 2014.

Freedom
House, a leading watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of
freedom and democracy around the world, said in a recent report
Turkey continues to decline in the areas of political rights and
civil liberties, with renewed violence and an intensified crackdown
on critics and the media ongoing.

Turkey
is among 72 countries around the world that have seen a net decline
in freedoms and rights, in the form of intense harassment of those
opposed to the government as well as media outlets, Freedom House
said on Jan. 27.

"Turkey
received a downward trend arrow due to renewed violence between the
government and Kurdish militants, terrorist attacks by the Islamic
State [in Iraq and the Levant or ISIL] group, and intense harassment
of opposition members and media outlets by the government and its
supporters ahead of November parliamentary elections," the
report said in reference to 2015.

Today's
Zaman reporter Mahir Zeynalov, an Azerbaijani national, was deported
in 2014 by the Turkish government for anti-government tweets that, in
a criminal complaint filed by then-Prime Minister Erdoğan, were
termed “defamation and inciting public hatred.” He was deported
under Law No. 5683, which allows foreigners who are deemed to be a
security threat to be forced to leave the country. Zeynalov
previously had a criminal complaint filed against him for several
tweets he had posted pertaining to a major corruption scandal which
went public on Dec. 17, 2013.

Germany's
Der Spiegel magazine photojournalist Andy Spyra was also barred from
entering Turkey and deported on suspicion of being jihadist in April
2015.

According to an article published on the Diken.com news portal,
citing Der Spiegel's report over the incident, Spyra was sent back to
Germany after being held at İstanbul Atatürk Airport's detention
center for a night

Erdoğan’s
top court remarks point to coup d’état: CHP head

Critical
remarks made by Turkey’s president on a top court ruling that led
to the release of two journalists who spent months under arrest over
a news report alleging state-owned trucks carrying weapons to Syria
show that steps are being taken for a coup d’état, the country’s
main opposition leader has said.

“If
someone who was elected by [laws defined in] the constitution says ‘I
do not recognize the constitution,’ that means moves are underway
for a coup d’état,” said Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of
the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), criticizing
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan refusal to obey a ruling by Turkey’s
Constitutional Court that provided legal ground for the release of
daily Cumhuriyet editor-in-chief Can Dündar and Ankara bureau chief
Erdem Gül.

Speaking
at a meeting he held with representatives of several civic
organizations in Ankara on March 5, Kılıçdaroğlu said small and
medium business owners, tradesmen and business organizations were
keeping silent about the economy’s current slump due to fear of
Turkish authorities, what he called a “violation” of the
principle of separation of powers.

“If
someone walks up and says ‘legislation and jurisdiction [functions
of the state] are drags for me,’ then he violates the principle of
separation of powers,” the main opposition leader said.

“Do
you see what pressures business owners and tradesmen are under?
Nobody can speak out because of fear. Why couldn’t trade and
industry chambers say, ‘the economy is slumping?’” he added,
stressing the silent stance of small and medium business owners came
from the lack of an environment of democracy and liberty.

Kılıçdaroğlu’s
remarks came days after Erdoğan’s remarks sparked debate and
physical confrontation between parliamentary members from opposition
parties and those from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
late Feb. 28.

Erdoğan
said he would not accept nor respect the ruling was issued by the
Constitutional Court late Feb. 25, hours after the ruling, while
vowing not to abide by the ruling, “This incident has nothing to do
with freedom of expression, it is a case of spying,” Erdoğan said
on Feb. 28 after, speaking to reporters ahead of his official trip to
Africa.

Dündar
and Gül, who were arrested on Nov. 26, 2015, on terrorism charges,
served in prison for more than 90 days under “pre-trial” arrest
in a case filed after daily Cumhuriyet published a report in May 2015
that alleged state-owned trucks carried weapons to Syria. The trucks
owned by the National Inteligence Agency (MİT), the state
intelligence agency of the country, were stopped and searched by
gendarmes in the southern Turkish province of Hatay in January 2014,
the daily said in the report.

Via RT

'Turkish
democracy is dead' - Zaman journo over media crackdown

The
latest government takeover of the Zaman media outlet in Istanbul is
"not a surprise at all,' a journalist who had been working in
the country told RT, adding that "the press has never been free
in Turkey.'

RT reporter teargassed during Periscope live from Zaman protest in Istanbul

The
editorial policy of Turkey’s best-selling Zaman newspaper, formerly
critical of the government, has apparently gone through a change. The
Sunday edition, under a newly appointed administration, now appears
to support the official line.

President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan can be seen on the new Zaman daily’s front
page, smiling in an article announcing a presidential reception on
upcoming Women's Day (March 8). A costly governmental project of a
new bridge to be built across Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait was also
headlined, as well as reports on the funerals of "martyrs"
killed in clashes with the Kurds.

More
articles supporting the government could be found in the Sunday
edition of the paper that has an estimated circulation of 650,000,
AFP reported. Containing just 12 pages, the paper is a slimmer
version of its previous self, and the content is sparse, according to
Reuters.

Protests
that erupted following what was widely seen as the seizure of Zaman’s
headquarters in Istanbul by the government were glossed over in the
new edition, Reuters reported. On Saturday, police used tear gas,
water cannon and fired rubber bullets to disperse hundreds-strong
crowds of Zaman readers.

Police
also raided Zaman's building, forcefully imposing a Turkish court
order to put the media under administration. The newspaper's
editor-in-chief Abdulhamit Bilici was fired by the new trustees.

"The
Sunday edition was not produced by Zaman's staff,"
one of the newspaper's journalists told AFP, adding, "internet
has been cut off, we are unable to use our system."

"It’s
impossible to continue to work at Zaman daily because the trustees
who were assigned by the government will fire us a couple of days
later. All of us will be fired from the newspaper. But if they don’t,
of course we will resign, because it’s impossible to work with the
government, we will not write what they want,"
Emre Soncan, a journalist from Today’s Zaman newspaper, an English
version of Zaman daily, told RT
on Saturday.

Zaman's
website has been offline, while Today's Zaman online services have
not been updated since Saturday. Government affiliates have also
taken control of and blocked access to the outlet's Cihan news
agency, Today's Zaman earlier reported.

The
Zaman newspaper’s former team has launched a new paper of their
own, "Yarina Bakis" ("Look to Tomorrow"), local
media reported, saying that journalists had decided to remain in line
with their previous editorial policy. The new paper reported on the
weekend protests in Istanbul.

Turkish
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu denied any links between the
government takeover of the paper and changes in its editorial policy,
saying the seizure had nothing to do with the paper's criticism of
the authorities.

"There
are many media outlets in Turkey that criticize our government. None
of them are subjected to legal procedures,"
Davutoglu told A Haber television on Sunday, as quoted by AFP.
"What's
in question here is not merely press activity, but rather an
operation targeting a legitimate government that came to power with
popular support,"
he added, referring to Zaman's affiliation with now US-based